{"author_name":"Zayron","cat":"LD #31","comments":[{"author_name":"ilokimo","time":"December 16, 2014 8:03 am","epoch":1418734980,"text":"Hey, that&#8217;s a very nice design game mechanic wise.","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1418733720,"likes":3,"metadata":{"p_key":"21937","p_author":"Zayron","p_authorkey":"41941","p_urlkey":"57300","p_title":"Snow Invasion \u2013 Postmortem","p_cat":"LD #31","p_event":"LD31","p_time":"1418733720","p_likes":"3","p_comments":"1","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"41941","us_name":"Zayron","us_username":"zayron","event_start":"1417737600","event_key":"26","event_name":"LD31"},"text":"<p>This was my first ludum and I had a lot of fun. The community is so nice and I have had a lot of helpful feedback. Thank you all!<\/p>\n <p><img src=\"http:\/\/www.voltdrift.com\/LudumDare\/31\/SnowInvasionGameplay.gif\" alt=\"Snow Invasion game play\" \/><\/p>\n <p>At first I was thinking of a top down kind of game but I have never done a platformer type before so I really wanted to try that. Then I was thinking I wanted the bottom of the screen to be all lava and the player would have to stay on the platforms. Saturday I went to town for lunch so I could take a break from the computer and game and that is when the idea of the frozen ground came to me. So I cut the lava and made the bottom of the screen a solid platform. Then I started working on the code for the frozen ground mechanic. That turned out to be a good call because a lot of people said they liked that part.<\/p>\n <p>After that I worked on adding power ups to make that game more interesting. I originally wanted a lot more but I ran out of time so I had to settle for 3.<\/p>\n <p><img src=\"http:\/\/www.voltdrift.com\/LudumDare\/31\/powerUpSpeed.png\" alt=\"\" \/>= Shoot Faster<br \/>\n <img src=\"http:\/\/www.voltdrift.com\/LudumDare\/31\/powerUpHP.png\" alt=\"\" \/>= Full Heal<br \/>\n <img src=\"http:\/\/www.voltdrift.com\/LudumDare\/31\/powerUpShield.png\" alt=\"\" \/>= Flame Shield. (Makes you invulnerable and thaws ground you are standing on)<\/p>\n <p><strong>What I learned:<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>One thing I learned was after hours of play testing what I think is easy will not be easy to everyone else. I had a lot of comments that the game was hard. Some people liked that and some maybe not so much.<\/p>\n <p>This was also my first time using gamemaker other than a few test programs the week before. I did not think I would be able to finish in the time limit with my normal C# coding so I took a risk and used gamemaker. The risk paid off here and I learned a lot about the software in the process.<\/p>\n <p><strong>What I need to work on:<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>I need to work on my art. I think it turned out ok in the end but I would like it to be much better. I guess that just comes with time.<\/p>\n <p>I also had comments that I needed background music. I have never done music before so I crossed that off my list before I even started. So I think I will do some research in the next few months and see if I can learn to at least make some basic music that sounds decent.<\/p>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <p><a title=\"Play Snow Invasion\" href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-31\/?action=preview&amp;uid=41941\">Play Snow Invasion<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 16th, 2014 7:42 am","title":"Snow Invasion \u2013 Postmortem"}